Don’t Wear Yourself Out

A few random warnings for a Thursday:

Perfection Is

• Nonexistent: If you haven’t heard the mistakes and struggles of the musicians you idolize it’s only because you haven’t listened carefully enough. No one plays everything perfectly. I can tell you about recorded mistakes of everyone of my favorite drummers from Buddy Rich to Jeff Porcaro. This doesn’t make me better, far from it. What it does do, though, is give me a reality check about perfection.
• Unattainable: It helps me to know that perfection is unattainable. If Porcaro rushes on a fill now and then who am I to expect that I won’t do the same. More importantly, why should I spend my life trying (in vain) to be better than him? Which means that perfection is:
• Overrated: You don’t need to play perfectly to succeed in the music business. I know that runs counter to everything you’ve ever believed, but it’s true. Go back to “Nonexistent” if you don’t believe me. If you need further proof, consider that perfection is:
• Often unmusical: Line up 5 of your favorite players and ask them to play the exact same thing and you’ll hear 5 different licks. The differences will be slight, but they are the key to what we call music. The differences are “imperfections.” Music is imperfect – and that’s a beautiful thing.

Weaknesses

You have weaknesses, everyone does. Some of them need work, most of them do not.

• Can it be improved? You cannot be great at everything. So before you choose to tackle a weakness, make sure it can be tackled. Don’t wear yourself out working on an unworkable weakness.
• Does it matter? Will working on this weakness make a difference in your life? If not, don’t bother. If so, bother.
• Note: If it matters, it can be improved. It doesn’t matter whether you feel you can do it or not, or if you want to do it or not, if improving your weakness matters, work on it. Period. Any progress will be a big deal.

Strengths

Don’t wear yourself out seeking perfection, but work on your strengths. Which brings me to the point of this post:

Your USP

The key to success is having a USP, or Unique Selling Proposition. Contrary to popular myth, yours cannot be perfection (or the similar “be the best in the world”). It also cannot be any other “one thing,” so don’t wear yourself out trying to figure out and/or work on the one thing that will make you a success.

Instead, recognize and nurture the unique combination of the many things that make you you. All of these things make up your USP.

Don’t wear yourself out being anything but the best you you can be.